This month we had the pleasure of sitting down with Frank Peck, one of the newest inductees into the Sand Springs Hall of Fame. Peck shared with us some of his experiences while in the Sand Springs school system and how those experiences shaped his life for a thriving career in accounting and business counseling.
Peck is a CPA by training and has been working in accounting and business counseling for the last 35 years. A little over 20 years ago he founded Peck and Associates health-care accounting and consulting firm. Peck does just about every kind of business operation you can do in the healthcare industry including billing, payroll, financial analysis and so much more.
But let’s take a moment to back up and see where Peck started and how his career at SSPS shaped his life for such an amazing career. Peck spent his entire elementary to high school career in the Sand Springs School District – making him a Sandite through and through. A large influence in his schooling was sports – specifically baseball and wrestling! He remembers playing tee-ball, having a paper route, and mowing neighbors’ yards growing up, all the while meeting and falling in love with an incredible community. “My 5th grade teacher had a big impact on me as a person and my development and my enthusiasm,” said Peck. Growing up, Peck also said he,”… used to love going to the library and picking out books with his brother!” (The building that is now the Sand Springs Cultural Museum).
As he got a little older and got into high school he remembers what a great influence his church community was at Broadway Baptist and remembered his great wrestling coach and team. His wrestling team was a state championship-winning team in 1971. Peck raved about the team and was so excited to see everyone at the Hall of Fame Banquet. Peck recalled learning about what kind of attitude to have when you are losing or winning and that he was so grateful to have a team and coaches that encouraged him during the tough and the great times. He also shared: “When I was a senior I was student council president and the faculty rep I worked with was George Paden, and he was a great mentor to me.”
Looking back at his experiences overall, Peck shared that he grew to love his community and that the people in Sand Springs were so good to him and his brothers. “It was really great to grow up there,” said Peck.
As we wrapped up our interview with Peck, he shared a few words of wisdom for the generations of Sandites to come:
“Perseverance was a great thing for me. There’s always in life a lot of discouragements and things that don’t work out like you hoped. I was fortunate to have people that encouraged me to persevere, that led me to believe that I was a person of worth and they believed in me in spite of discouragement in the moment. I think that’s important. I also learned a lot from being a part of a team, with teammates that pushed me and caused me to be better than I would have been without them. Valuing those relationships and those people I think is important because they make a difference in your life.”
When you see Frank Peck, make sure you give him a warm handshake and tell him congratulations on being one of the newest members of the Sand Springs Education Foundation Hall of Fame.
You can find a full video interview on our website by scanning the QR code!
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